I recently received an email from Princeton Brushes this afternoon informing me that I had won their Aspen Brushes Competition Giveaway. I have to say that I was over the moon as I haven't won anything in years!!

I had applied to the competition as I had had a spare five minutes, but I never thought for a moment that I might be the winner! Result.

The brushes arrived a couple of days later and were immediately taken with enthusiasm over to the studio to give them a test drive.

I have been using Princeton's Catalyst Series brushes for a while now and they have become the tools that I turn to regularly for their ability to load paint, blend and for their moderate stiffness. They're great brushes and I recommend to anyone looking for a new brush to add to their collection.

The Aspen Series is a more refined creature. As advertised, they hold their shape beautifully and with the short flats, you can pick them up, again and again, knowing that they're going to make the same marks they did the last time you used them.

While I haven't used them outdoors yet, I'm looking forward to the opportunity. Their black ferrule prevents glare from the sun, which if you've painted in those conditions, I know you will appreciate.

While Aspen does do an angled bright in this series, it would be useful to have a dagger or sword version of these brushes added to the collection. Nevertheless, I can highly recommend these brushes to anyone looking for a solid workmate that offers precision and durability.

The 'Moji' tent light from Black Diamond is a palm sized lantern that gives off a fantastic range of lighting for its size. Equally at home being an uplighter or downlighter, it performs it function in a warm and cheery manor.

Battery life is good, being powered by 3 triple AAAs and also has numerous brightness settings to aid in conserving battery life or changing the ambience.

If there's anything about this light that needs addressing in terms of design, it would be the On/Off button, which is located on the side in the the form of a small rubber click button. Personally, I think it should be more pronounced as when it's dark it's not immediately obvious as to its location. Having a glow in the dark button would be a nice touch too.

Regardless, this is a great little light that I recommend for anyone looking to buy a bright, robust and compact little light.